Crosstalk : The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, June 2005; Volume 18, Issue 6 : Reality Computing: Reality Computing

By Johnstun, Kase

Summary
Summary: CrossTalk, The Journal of Defense Software Engineering, is an approved U.S. Department of Defense journal. CrossTalk's mission is to encourage the engineering development of software in order to improve the reliability, sustainability, and responsiveness of our warfighting capability and to inform and educate readers on up-to-date policy decisions and new software engineering technologies.

Description
Description: This author outlines how personal digital assistants (PDAs) are used in the military, future uses, procurement considerations, developing PDA resource material, and more; here are seven defensive strategies to reduce the risk from hardcore spyware invading your home and small business systems; this article addresses the Unified Modeling Language and its purpose, constructs, and application to defense software development applications; this author describes some typical pitfalls of object-oriented development and recommends a number of architectural practices that will help programs avoid or mitigate these dangers; here is how three different organizations used a combination of quantitative measures and qualitative values to identify their best practices, then used these results to improve their performance; this author recommends ways to capture and record specific issues that are encountered and resolved during software development to build a knowledge base; drawing on personal experience, this author relates how his recovery from a spinal cord injury follows process improvement in an unhealthy organization as it moves toward recovery.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents: Reality Computing: Handheld Computing; by Col. Kenneth L. Alford, Ph.D. This author outlines how personal digital assistants (PDAs) are used in the military, future uses, procurement considerations, developing PDA resource material, and more -- How to Secure Windows PCs and Laptops; by Terry Bollinger. Here are seven defensive strategies to reduce the risk from hardcore spyware invading your home and small business systems -- How and Why to Use the Unified Modeling Language; by Lynn Sanderfer. This article addresses the Unified Modeling Language and its purpose, constructs, and application to defense software development applications -- Effective Practices for Object-Oriented System Software Architecting; by Rich McCabe and Mike Polen. This author describes some typical pitfalls of object-oriented development and recommends a number of architectural practices that will help programs avoid or mitigate these dangers -- Best Practices: Identifying Your Organization's Best Practices; by David Herron and David Garmus. Here is how three different organizations used a combination of quantitative measures and qualitative values to identify their best practices, then used these results to improve their performance -- Software Engineering Technology: Application-Specific Knowledge Bases; by Dr. Babak Makkinejad. This author recommends ways to capture and record specific issues that are encountered and resolved during software development to build a knowledge base -- Open Forum: Process Therapy; by Paul Kimmerly. Drawing on personal experience, this author relates how his recovery from a spinal cord injury follows process improvement in an unhealthy organization as it moves toward recovery -- On-Line Only Feature: Knowledge Management and Process Improvement: A Union of Two Disciplines; by Gregory D. Burke and William H. Howard -- Connecting Earned Value to the Schedule; by Walt Lipke.